Murray Local Land Services

Conditions remain challenging and decline further in the east of the region.

• Below to very much below average rainfall during April for much of the region along with above average temperatures.
• This has resulted in an expansion of area classified to be in the NSW CDI Drought category during the month.
• Drier conditions have meant the management of pastures, livestock health and cropping program decisions are becoming more crucial approaching winter.
• Producers across the region are monitoring forecasts closely to assist with management decisions for the remainder of autumn and into winter.
• The drought forecast suggests that drought conditions will expand and most of the region will likely be in Drought-Affected category by the end of July 2025, (with moderate to high model agreement and low to high past accuracy). The DPIRD continues to closely monitor conditions in this region.

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Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

Plant greenness levels are near normal to below average for most of the region for the February to April period.

• Anomalies remain below average for parts of the region.

Note that some of the extremely negative NDVI areas (brown patches) are water bodies.

The NDVI anomaly is a useful measure of vegetation density and plant health. It estimates the amount of green vegetation there is in the landscape compared to what is expected at the given time of year, against the baseline period 1987 - 2020.

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Individual Drought Indicators

Conditions remain challenging across the region

• Warm temperatures and below average rainfall are contributing to continued low values in the underlying drought indicators across much of the region.
• Further rainfall will be needed to trigger an improvement in conditions across the region.

To access a Drought History chart for your Parish, visit the Seasonal Conditions Information Portal.